Why We Change
by Grand Master Darkstorm
Summary: AU to the original storyline. She told him to wait and he did, but how much of his life would change? Would he be able to have the woman of his dreams and not loose her to the hands of her abusive husband? Or would he live the life he wanted? Just the two of them, nothing stopping him from being with her or would something pull him to the Machine again? (On Hold)
1. Chapter 1: Wait for me

**Okay, so this is my first attempt at a Person of Interest story, reviews are appreciated!**

**2****006**

"Oh yeah I got engaged. I'm moving back east next month." She took a pause "His name's Peter."

She could see the pain in his eyes; it had been years since they were together, and the look on his face when he saw her, it was almost like he woke up from a coma. She still couldn't believe it was him, sure he was older, scruff and a few grays here and there but nothing that still didn't make her feel the way she did about him.

He smiled at her, it was a smile he was used to having when he was around her, he tried his best to make it seem like he didn't want to kill this guy "Peter?"

She nodded happily, he could tell she was happy, but her green eyes revealed something else, he once heard the eyes were the gateway to the soul, he never did remember where he heard it, old Chinese proverb was what he always told himself.

"He's a lucky guy."

Her smile turned into a frown, he had a feeling what she was going to say to him "I waited for you."

"I didn't ask you to."

"No." She shook her head and tried to smile "No, you didn't. You just…left, because you thought you were going to get killed over there and it would hurt me."

He knew she was right; those words were exactly what he said in two thousand and two when he was leaving for Virginia for training with the Agency.

"But I think it was easier for you to be alone." She admitted

It was time for him to be serious with her "That's one of the things you learn over there. In the end we're all alone, and no one's coming to save you."

He set his coffee mug down, it was time for him to go anyway, he began to step away, her face still riddled with pain, he leaned his head close to her ear so only she could hear what he hoped would be his final words to her.

"Be happy with Peter." He whispered gently in her ear

As he walked, she turned to face him "You don't mean that…not really."

He turned himself back so his face met hers, even though there was about a foot separating the pair.

"You want to be brave?" She challenged him "Take a risk. Tell me to wait for you, just…" she was almost on the verge of tears "say those words and I will."

He couldn't say anything, he wanted to say it, but he was running through the scenarios in his head, on the one hand, she had a sure thing and he didn't want to see her loose it, but on the other hand, he cared about her, he really did, but he _could _get himself killed and he didn't want to have her be like one of those wives on television and receive the news he had been killed overseas, just seeing the terror and pain on her face just made his stomach churn.

"It would take real courage wouldn't it?" She replied to his silence, holding back the tears

He didn't say another word as she turned her back to him; her suitcase followed her as she began to walk away.

"Wait for me….please." John calmly stated

Jessica's head lifted, the tears streaming down her face, she didn't turn right away; she couldn't feel her body move at all, almost like someone had frozen her to the ground, those words, the ones she was waiting to hear for years he finally said.

John walked over to her calmly, her hand was red from holding onto the suitcase's handle for too long, he gently removed her hand and just held it, he wasn't really a man for many words, at least not anymore.

"What did you say?" Jessica didn't face him

John moved so he faced her, he lifted her head so she was looking up at him, one thing she knew that he always thought annoyed her was that she had to stand on her toes to kiss him unless they were in bed.

He gently moved her blonde locks away from her face, her green eyes locked with his, he leaned in and captured her lips with his, he could feel the tears continue to flow down her cheeks as the hand bearing her ring held his face, his hands went around her waist, the cold metal from the ring reminded him that he could tell her to wait for him, he didn't know anything about this Peter fellow and he didn't know how he was going to take Jessica breaking up with him.

"Did you…did you mean it?" She asked calmly, their foreheads nearly touching

John simply nodded "I don't think I can stop me going back, but…I would like to know," he gently stroked her chin with his index and middle finger "if I had something to come back to."

"You will." Jessica smiled

They kissed again, he didn't want to let go, but he knew he would have to, he gently removed his arms from around her waist and cupped her face.

"Wait for me."

"I will." She smiled gently

The pair parted and Jessica made her way to the terminal to check in to fly back east, Reese waited a moment and his phone went off.

He gently picked it up and held it to his ear, before he could speak, the voice spoke first.

"Hello John."

John recognized the voice "Mark, what do you want?"

"Your being called John, we're sending you to Hungary to meet with our agent there Kara Stanton, she's your new partner."

"Understood." John replied

He watched as Jessica waved at him and left the door, it felt like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders, for the first time in his life, he was human again.


	2. Chapter 2: Ordos Part 1

_**Guys I'm so sorry for the lack of updating, needed to wait for more money to come in so I could buy more episodes with John and Jessica, of course this episode I'm using was the last CIA mission I had to study things and tweak it, I hope everyone likes it!**_

**CIA Black Ops Site Tetouan, Morocco 2010**

"_Tell me where he is…We can do this all night."_

John stood on the other side of the room, a flat screen computer monitor was set up so he could watch the interrogation of a captured terrorist ally that he and his partner Kara Stanton had been watching for the last six months, all it took was some drums of oil and a couple of bullets but they got him to be exposed long enough to put a tranquilizer in his neck and bring him back to the site.

He never really did have the stomach for interrogations, for John, straight up action was the way to go for him, Kara was the brains of the operation, so letting her handle the messy work was his way of saying _good job, I did the hard work, now you break him._

"_Hey…look at me!" _Kara demanded as she walked behind him "S_ooner or later you're going to start talking to me."_

A smile spread on his face as John watched Kara work, he could tell she was dedicated, but he had his mind on other things, these types of days would be the days that Kara had used his nickname "The boy scout."

Sure, he was one of the best killers the Agency ever trained, but there was something else on his mind, something he did a long time ago that didn't get Kara's good side smiling much when they met in Budapest.

"_Let's try some non-verbal communication."_

John pulled his cellphone out of his pocket as he could hear the first finger being broken and quickly turned the monitor off, he had heard enough, it was bad enough that Kara had been on his case since he joined about what he had done in transit before Hungary.

Flipping his phone to its back, he quickly swapped the memory cards, this was something he did on occasion, a private line that not even Kara or Mark Snow, his best friend knew about. He popped it in place and listened for the voice mail to recognize.

"_It's me…Jessica I mean…"_

John's eyes grew wide as he heard her voice, he hadn't seen Jessica in years, but tried to keep in contact with her while she held off the wedding with Peter, though she was calling herself Jessica Arndt now.

"_I don't even know if you check this number…"_Her voice sounded weak, terrified "_Um…I need to talk…"_

The message ended there, John cursed at himself and quickly dialed her number…the only number he kept in his contacts.

* * *

Jessica sat alone in her car, the night time sky gave a sense of peace and tranquility…something she needed.

Since she held off her wedding with Peter, he had become almost intolerable to live with, his drinking levels increased, he was out late and he was keeping things from her…things she just found out about, his declining retail job caused him to start borrowing money so they could keep their home in New Rochelle…borrowing from people that most banks would call "uncredible loaners."

She pressed her head against the head guard of her car as her bangs fell onto her forehead, lost in her own thoughts of holding this feeling…the feelings she had since the towers fell when she was with John and Mexico and the guilt of lying to Peter all these years, she claimed it was because she wanted them to see if being married was a good thing, no secrets, no doubts, no worries. Jessica had to keep telling herself that waiting was a good thing…but she didn't know how much longer she could keep up this charade.

Her phone was sitting in the cup holder beside her and gently reaching for it, a sigh of relief exited her body when she saw John's name come up.

She picked the phone up and a smile spread when she heard his voice "_Jessica…I got your message." _

"I didn't know if you'd call me back." Her tone sounded grimmer then she wanted, but when depression sets in what choice would anyone have? "We haven't talked in almost…what four years?"

"_What's wrong? Is everything all right with Peter?"_

She rested her head against the palm of her hand and nodded, though she wished John could see how much pain she was in "Yeah he's fine…" She lied "We're both fine….I just…" Jessica's emotions were getting the better of her, her voice cracked and the tears began to fall "needed a friend that I could talk to."

"_Something's wrong…Talk to me." _

"You know you were right…in the airport when I last saw you…you said that…. 'In the end we're all alone…" Her emotions were getting the better of her; she didn't want to drag John into her mess "I should go."

Just as she was about to end the call, John spoke again "_Jessie…"_

Sure, she loved it when he used the nicknames he had for her but this time it wasn't going to do it "Bye John…"

"_I'm coming to get you…I'll be there in twenty four hours. Wait for me."_

She smiled when he said that…the exact same words he said when she challenged him "I'll wait."

* * *

John hung the phone up and wanted to slam it into the wall as he changed the memory cards, he knew he shouldn't have come back, he wanted to be there, he could only imagine what she must of have thought of him…would she still love him after everything he had become?

He turned the monitor on as Kara came back to the main hub, feet along the floor caught their attention as two new figures approached, one John recognized as Mark Snow, his best friend and fellow CIA operative, the other one…a woman who looked almost as old as his mother was a unknown factor.

"How's our guy doing?" Snow asked motioning to the screen

"We're making progress." Kara confirmed firmly "Softening him up a bit."

"It doesn't matter, your being reassigned. You head out tonight."

John gave Mark a confused look, something Mark managed to pick up on.

"China."

"No can do." John butted in "I need leave…a family emergency."

"You don't have any family Reese." Mark snapped back at him "And I have been assured the situation is…urgent."

"Then get someone else."

"There is no time to find someone else." The woman spoke up finally spoke up "We lost control of a certain item, retrieving it is of highest priority. Do you understand?"

"We understand." Kara responded sharply which caused John to glare at her then back at Snow

"Allow me to introduce you to Alicia Corwin, the Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs."

Alicia nodded at Mark "We believe someone in the Pentagon sold a secure laptop containing part of the source code to a Chinese firm…we believe they are either trying to inoculate their own devices or they're trying to modify it to attack the US nuclear infrastructure. Either way, we need the laptop returned."

"Where are we going?"

"Ordos," Mark spoke up "A company town in the middle of China. You'll fly into Beijing, two weeks to gather Intel and you're going in."

Reese frowned at this and put his hand into his pocket which formed a fist, he knew that if this operation took two weeks…Jessica could be dead, he had a backup idea, and he just had to use his phone.

"One other thing, the laptop has to be treated with extreme precaution…so that means no phones and no network devices of any kind. The software will exploit any open communications. Understood?"

Both agents nodded, though Reese knew he had to do something to get Jessica away from Peter, somehow. Alicia nodded and walked out followed by Kara, as John proceeded to leave Mark held up a hand.

"Hang on John, one more thing; after you secure the package…you need to retire Agent Stanton."

"You're telling me to kill my partner?"

"We intercepted an unauthorized communications between her and this man." Snow held up a picture of a man about in his forties with a balding head "She's been compromised; we believe she is fraternizing with the enemy."

"We clean up our own mess Reese…you know that." Mark looked at his friend "Once this is done….you can take all the leave you want."

Mark walked away, leaving John alone; he quickly pulled out his phone, hoping that Jessica would pick up.

"_John? Why are you calling?"_

He sat down "Listen Jess, they pulled me on another mission…I won't be back for a bit. I need you to pack a bag, don't tell anyone where you're going and I need you to leave."

"_Wait John I don't…"_

"There isn't time; I won't have any means of contact for a while. I need you to go to Manhattan; I have a friend of mine who works for Homicide, ask for Joss Carter. Tell her John sent you."

"_John…I …"_

"Jessie…please…" John almost pleaded

"_Okay, okay."_

"Peter won't touch you…I promise." John leaned against the wall, he knew he had to say something "I love you."

"_John…."_

John smiled, he didn't know it, but she was smiling and crying "_I love you too."_

He nodded "okay, just do what I said please."

"_I will." _

He turned his phone off and removed the chip once again, stashing it in his pocket, the CIA took everything from him, his peace, his military life, even his name, but they wouldn't take Jess from him.


End file.
